West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday took pains to explain why West Bengal was far behind Gujarat in the field of industry. “One section of the media is constantly highlighting the achievements of Gujarat. But it is unfair to compare Gujarat with Bengal. The former has geographic advantage. It has 17 ports while Bengal has only two. The population of Gujarat is much less than that of Bengal. Moreover, there the Opposition does not create political obstruction in development. There the political parties do politics only before and during the election. Gujarat has one-and-a-half times more land than our state. Besides, I have inherited the legacy of 34-year Left Front rule during which industry was finished in the state. Gujarat does not have this record,” Ms Banerjee said. She was speaking at the inauguration of Bengal Leads 2013 at Haldia.
She did not forget to mention that Bengal was reeling under the debt of a staggering `2 lakh crore while Gujarat had no debt burden. She then went on to lament the step-motherly treatment her government was receiving from a hostile Centre. She again repeated her demand to the Centre for a moratorium on interest payment for three years and debt restructuring.
She also launched a tirade against her opponents in the state: CPI(M) and Left Front. “The Opposition is taking out rallies and organising road blockades at the drop of a hat. And every evening, panel discussions are being held on television channels where government-bashing has become a fashion. Show me any other state where this happens.”
she said, adding ruefully that her government did not own television channels.
For a while, it seemed that the chief minister had forgotten that she was addressing representatives of chambers of commerce and captains of industry. She unwittingly turned the grand business summit into a political platform and virtually squandered a great opportunity to showcase Bengal as an attractive investment destination.